Building control systems (which may also be referred to herein as “building automation systems”) are widely used in modern commercial, industrial, and residential building facilities. These building control systems include, for example, fire safety systems and heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Because of the unique nature of larger buildings, the building control systems used therein can vary substantially from building to building. As a consequence, there is typically not a set price for a building automation system. It is therefore common practice for building developers to obtain a specific cost estimate that is custom-generated for a new proposed building automation system.
In general, building automation systems can involve large numbers of subsystems distributed throughout a building. Although a building automation system can include several different subsystems, many subsystems can be similar. For example, a space cooling subsystem can involve a controller, one or more temperature sensors, cabling, and the like. A large building may include many of such space cooling subsystems.
Currently, there are two general methods used for cost estimation, both involving generating a database that includes all of the cost-elements (e.g. products or systems) required in constructing the system. A first method creates a separate database entry for each subsystem and/or product involved in the building automation system. For example, if the building system involves forty variable air valve (VAV) subsystems, then the estimation method creates forty database entries, one for each VAV subsystem and all of its associated parts. A second method merely stores quantities of products, parts, or subsystems.
The first method, by including individual entries for each subsystem, allows for use of the information to associate the units with specific areas of the building, so that riser diagrams may be built. Thus, each unit can be associated with a floor or space of the building. The drawback of this method is that it can require a large database that is cumbersome to work with.
The second method, by merely tallying quantities of parts, products or subsystems, is simple to implement. However, the information in the database requires that the entire building automation system be defined by hand (or in some other method), so that part and product counts can be generated. Accordingly, this second method is labor intensive for the user.
In view of the foregoing methods for cost estimation of building control systems, it would be advantageous to provide a cost estimator that allows the user to define a large number of subsystems within the various building areas while using a relatively small database. It would also be advantageous for the cost estimator to easily define the building automation system and easily generate associated part and product counts.